Strange Kinda Way
by Lucy Maria Elmer
Summary: When Penny's poorly, tlc comes from a very unexpected source...
1. Chapter 1

**Strange Kinda Way.**

(I own nothing. I'm just playing with these two lovely ladies...in a purely innocent way. Please don't sue!)

Penny lay on her sofa wrapped in her duvet with a box of tissues at her side. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get warm even though she had a temperature and rosy red cheeks which she knew looked completely ridiculous with her red hair. She hated having colds. She'd spent the whole day battling through her shift at work, feeling so hot and tired and sneezing so much that Elliot and Connie had decided after Frieda had told them not so subtly that she was driving the patients mad with worry about their own health's, that she should go home. She'd tried protesting of course, but after sneezing on Elliot her efforts had been declared futile and so feeling sorry for herself, and in dire need of Lemsip she had made her way home to her empty house to get into her pyjamas and watch sappy movies.

It was times like these that Penny wished that there was someone to take care of her. Someone in her life who would dote on her when she was poorly and nurse her back to health. She knew that it was only a cold and she knew that she was perfectly capable of looking after herself but still she couldn't help but wonder, if something were to happen to her would anybody really care? How would they even know? Sometimes it felt like she was doomed to live a life alone and truth be told the more days that passed when she saw colleagues in relationships and having children, or just having someone there for them when they needed a shoulder or a hug, and she continued to be alone, the less likely it felt that she would ever meet the person that would do the same for her. If only life was like the movies she had spent the last few hours watching. If only there were someone in her life that was clearly meant for her. Once upon a time she had thought that person was Scott but now...now she wasn't even sure that person would be male because a feisty Ukrainian nurse had one day appeared in her life and brought her world to its knees. While she was sure that she was more of an annoyance and target for sarcasm for Frieda than anything remotely romantic or even worthy of friendship, at least she now knew in her heart who she really was and she realised that the open mindedness that had come with realising that she had feelings for the Ward Sister who she spent so much time verbally sparring with, may be what would bring that person into her currently solitary life.

As she sneezed again; her head aching with the kind of ache that a severe cold brings, Penny sighed. She really did feel awful and lonely and at that moment she could have cried. It had been a long time since she'd had the opportunity to really be alone with her thoughts and they, along with the germs that her body was battling, were making her feel completely and utterly miserable. Usually she could distract herself with work but her body had other ideas. Never had she resented being ill more.

Penny was pulled away from her thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Go away." She shouted thinking that it may be Oliver. As much as she loved her brother he was one person that she didn't need around her when she was poorly. He generally made her feel inadequate as both as person and a Doctor. She certainly didn't want to feel that way when she was too ill to defend herself.

There was a knock on the door again.

Penny slowly got up from the sofa, wrapping the duvet around her tightly and walking to the door. When she opened it she got a shock, for standing there with a shopping bag dressed casually in a leather jacket, black vest top and leggings was Frieda Petrenko.

"Hi...I uh..."

"You look terrible." Frieda told her abruptly, walking into the flat and straight into Penny's kitchen. She immediately began rooting around in the drawers and cupboards.

"I feel it. I uh...how do you know where I live?" Penny asked, leaning against the doorframe and watching the dark haired woman curiously.

"I asked your brother." Frieda replied pulling a saucepan out of a cupboard and emptying an array of ingredients out of the shopping bag.

"And what...why are you here?"

Penny rather ungracefully blew her nose.

Frieda looked at her with an expression of exasperation followed by one of concern.

"Chicken soup." Frieda replied simply, busying herself preparing her wares.


	2. Chapter 2

"Pardon me?" Penny asked softly, thinking how at home Frieda looked in her kitchen at that moment in time.

"When I was young and I was poorly my mother always made me chicken soup. It used to make me feel better. Now go and lie down. You're distracting me from my work."

Penny continued to stand in the doorway and watch. Frieda glared at her.

"Go now!" She snapped; although Penny could have sworn that there was a hint of a smile on Frieda's lips.

With a look of utter confusion spreading across her features Penny carefully made her way back to her lounge and her sofa. Walking around while cocooned in a duvet, she had already discovered, could be a bit painful for shins and for feet. She settled herself back down and within minutes the smell of chicken and herbs filled the flat. Her stomach rumbled. She hadn't had much of an appetite since getting ill and hadn't eaten properly in a couple of days but whatever Frieda was making smelled delicious.

Penny tried to turn her attention back to the film that she had been watching, but knowing that her dark haired colleague was busying herself in the kitchen was proving to be too much of a distraction. Why was she here of all places? Penny would hardly call them best friends, sometimes she would hardly call them acquaintances but there in the kitchen was the woman who had brought Penny new knowledge of who she was; a woman she was completely and frustratingly attracted to. Her mind had never been such a mass of confusion.

She had just began to doze when Frieda bustled into the room and sat on the coffee table in front of Penny's sofa. She placed the items that she was holding onto the table's surface and reached out a hand to touch Penny's red cheeks and forehead.

It was as if an electric shock went through Penny as she felt Frieda's gentle hand touching her skin, hers being a touch that she had never felt before, that she couldn't have even hoped to feel. She began to blush and knew that her cheeks were going to go redder than they already were.

"You are very hot." Frieda told her, picking up a thermometer from beside her and placing it into Penny's ear.

"Pardon me?" Penny asked and Frieda smiled.

"Your temperature."

"Oh." Penny replied blushing again, watching Frieda's expression change as she looked at the thermometer.

"We need to keep an eye on that." She commented, picking up a tepid washcloth from beside her and placing it gently on Penny's forehead. "Your face is almost the same colour as your beautiful hair."

Penny swallowed hard as those words left Frieda's mouth and she noted the blush that appeared on the other woman's cheeks giving them a colour she had never seen before.

"Why are you doing this?" Penny asked softly, taking a glass of water that Frieda handed her and sipping it gratefully.

Frieda shrugged and looked at the floor, suddenly finding the carpet extremely interesting.

"When I saw you looking paler than normal I knew that you must be feeling pretty awful."

"Me pale? Erm, pot, kettle..." Penny teased, smiling at Frieda's look of utter confusion.

"I do not understand..."

"It doesn't matter. You know it's only a cold. I can take care of myself." Penny stated, immediately regretting it when she saw an uncharacteristic expression of hurt appear on Frieda's face.

"When I am poorly I do not like to be alone. Normally that would be fine but when I am ill? No way. Besides I am nurse. I do not like to see people suffer. Only those that deserve it."

"You don't even like me. Admit it. I irritate the hell out of you."

Frieda smiled.

"Yes...but that does not mean that I do not like you. Just that I find you a little...annoying."

"Your bedside manner is wonderful Sister Petrenko." Penny commented pulling another tissue out of the box beside her and blowing her nose.

"Don't bite the hand that feeds you." Frieda replied with a wink as she left her position on the coffee table and once again went into the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

Penny settled back against her pillow, pulling her duvet snugly around her; the sounds of Frieda pottering around in the kitchen soothing to her somehow. Before she knew it she had fallen asleep, to awaken again three hours later to the smell of fresh chicken soup and the sight of Frieda still in her flat, now jacketless, and sat on the floor in front of the sofa frowning her way through Never Been kissed. Penny looked at her surroundings, her eyes wide. Her flat had been tidied while she had been asleep. The old tissues and cups that had adorned the living room had all disappeared, everything had been straightened up, clothes that she had felt too ill to fold and had left in the wash basket were now folded and set on the table in front of her was a glass of water with two Ibuprofen to help ease her headache and bring down her fever. What she had done to deserve such kindness she didn't know but she was really and truly grateful, and if she was honest completely in awe of the woman who sat in front of her, and the care and consideration that she had shown.

"You're still here?" Penny said so quietly that Frieda almost didn't hear her.

"I could hardly leave before finding out what you think of my mother's recipe." Frieda quipped, her eyes intently studying the drowsy Doctors face. "You have been asleep for three hours. You must have been exhausted."

Penny rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn. She shifted into a more comfortable position on the sofa; throwing off the duvet that was now making her feel too hot to reveal her attire of a pair of small cotton shorts and an oversized sweatshirt. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, suddenly feeling self conscious for exposing so much skin.

"A little I guess. It's hard to sleep when you can't breathe through your nose."

"You know I do not understand why people like these movies. I much prefer a good horror." Frieda then commented, her eyes scanning Penny's long bare legs and bright pink toenails. "Take your pills." She then ordered, picking herself up off the floor and stretching.

Penny did as she was told and drank the water down thirstily.

"You're still very flushed." Frieda tod the redhead, leaning over to feel her cheeks and forehead again. "I shall get you a fresh washcloth."

"You don't have to do this. It must be getting late. Surely you have somewhere you need to be." Penny said softly, hating to think that her illness was keeping Frieda from being somewhere important and feeling guilty for taking up the time of someone whom much of the time she couldn't read.

"Yes. Here. Do you own anything but romantic comedies?" Frieda then called behind her as she entered the kitchen.

Penny smiled.

"I don't think so." She called out; Frieda pulling a face as she re-entered the room with a newly tepid washcloth for Penny's hot forehead.

"It figures you'd be mushy romantic type." Frieda told her, walking over to the young woman and placing the washcloth gently on her forehead.

"It figures you're not." Penny replied patting the sofa next to her in an invitation for Frieda to sit down. "What do you have against chick flicks anyway?"

Frieda settled herself on the sofa next to Penny and pulled her legs up underneath her.

"Life is never like it is in those movies."

"And it is in horror movies?" Penny replied with a cheeky smile, her body then overcome by a sneeze.

"It is never as romantic. Things never end with such happy ever after."

"That's a very jaded view."

"It realistic."

"So what would you do if one day some man came along and swept you off your feet?"

"It would not be a man and if it were woman...it would have to be someone very special." Frieda responded simply, her eyes glued to the television screen as she suddenly felt very self conscious. She didn't open up to people; not really and so opening up to Penny about her sexuality made her feel very vulnerable indeed.

"I thought Scott was the one who was going to sweep me off my feet. I cared about him so much...but now I know that I was wrong. He was wrong. Men might even be wrong." Penny explained blushing. She fiddled with a loose strand of cotton on her duvet cover.

Frieda turned to face her, her eyes wide and her mouth open in an o shape. It was then that Penny realised that her face was different somehow. Softer. She had removed her customary black lipstick and her eyeliner and instead of her skin being pale it was olive, her cheeks flushed with a pink hue.

"Your make up..."

"I took off. I hide behind for most of day. It make people wary. They avoid asking annoying questions...well...with one exception." Frieda explained to Penny, making her smile. "When I'm not at work I do not want to hide. This...is me."

"Well...You're very beautiful. You should go au natural more often."

Frieda frowned.

"I do not under..."

"You look good." Penny interrupted with a smile.

"You meanwhile are beginning to resemble Rudolph. Your nose must be very sore." Frieda told her frowning.

Penny brought her fingertips to her nose and winced as they touched the cracked skin that had been caused by excessive blowing.

Frieda rooted around in the shoulder bag that was at her feet.

"Here." She told Penny, offering her a small tin of Vaseline. "Rub some of that where it is sore. It will help."

"Thank you." Penny replied gratefully, taking the small tin from Frieda's hands; their fingertips brushing as she did so.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you hungry yet?" Frieda asked and as if on cue Penny's stomach grumbled loudly. "I will take that as yes." She added; once again getting up and making her way into the kitchen. A few minutes later she re-entered the lounge with two bowls of steaming chicken soup. "Paranormal Activity?" She commented as her eyes fell to the television screen. "I thought you only owned chick flicks as you call them."

Penny smiled.

"It's Ollie's. He leant it to me but I've always been too afraid to watch it on my own. I thought as you were here, you'd been so kind and you liked horror..."

"It is good film." Frieda told Penny, carefully handing her one of the bowls of soup and a spoon. She then sat back down at Penny's side once again tucking her knees underneath her; looking very relaxed in a place which up until a few hours previously had been completely alien to her.

"And this is good soup. You're an amazing cook." Penny told the woman who was sat beside her.

"For that my mother has to take credit."

The pair ate in companionable silence, each stealing glances at the other when they were sure that the other wasn't looking and Frieda unable to stop herself giggling when the film made Penny so obviously jump. Penny realised that she had never heard Frieda sincerely laugh before and even though it was at her expense she was glad that she could bring some happiness to the woman who sat beside her, for her laugh was the most beautiful sound that she had heard.

"You are seeming to be a more normal colour now." Frieda pointed out as she placed her now empty bowl on the coffee table. "Although I'm not sure if it's because your fever has started to come down or because the film is terrifying you into paleness."

"Could be either." Penny replied, placing her bowl onto the table also. "I've never been very good with scary films."

"That doesn't surprise me one bit."

Frieda got up from her sitting position on the chair and walked over to the spot beside Penny where her duvet lay on the floor. She picked it up and pulled it over the redhead's legs.

"Scary films are always better when you have something to hide under." She advised, giving Penny an understanding smile.

Penny lifted the duvet up and motioned for Frieda to sit back down at her side.

"I'm not sure I want to share the duvet of a sick woman." Frieda teased sitting down next to her anyway; Penny then cocooning them both in the duvet and immediately hiding part of her face under it. "Oh come on Valentine, this bit not even scary."

"Really?" Penny asked as she removed the blanket from her face. She immediately jumped when a door slammed on the screen, her body edging closer to Frieda's without her even intending it to. She pulled the duvet over her head and held it there tightly. The film was going to give her nightmares if she wasn't careful and she really didn't need an awful night's sleep when she was already suffering with a rotten cold.

"No. Not really. You're going to make yourself hot!" Frieda scolded; amusement evident in her voice as Penny sneezed under the duvet.

"I'm fine like this." Penny mumbled, jumping from under the duvet when there was another crash on the screen.

"You're missing a perfectly good film. Now come out before you suffocate yourself or send yourself into some kind of convulsion."


	5. Chapter 5

The duvet moved as Penny shook her head. Frieda rolled her eyes. She then lifted the duvet over her own head so that she was face to face with Penny. She reached out and again gently touched Penny's forehead and cheeks; the washcloth now long forgotten down the side of the sofa.

"Your skin very clammy and hot. You need to come out."

Penny shook her head.

"Don't argue with me Valentine." She scolded but still Penny could see the hint of a smile in the blackness.

"If I come out I am going to have nightmares for days."

"If you don't come out I will be the one giving you nightmares for days." Frieda replied, grabbing hold of the duvet and trying to pull it back down over their heads so that Penny could get some fresh air. Penny however was holding on for dear life and it was only when Frieda toppled over on top of Penny and both they and the duvet slid onto the floor that they broke down into giggles.

"See you are once again bright red." Frieda pointed out from her position on top of the redhead Doctor.

"That might be because you're squashing my lungs." Penny responded knowing that it wasn't anything like that at all and most certainly not just her high temperature.

"I wouldn't be if it wasn't for your childishness."

"And I wouldn't be getting squashed if it wasn't for your love of twisted...Oh my...what the hell just pulled her out of the bed?"

Frieda watched as Penny's face blanched and for the first time she understood that the woman lying underneath her was truly scared.

"We do not have to watch." She told her softly, stroking a stray piece of hair away from Penny's cheek.

"You like this. It's okay...I can hide..."

Frieda shook her head. However touched she felt by Penny's being willing to watch a movie she was terrified of just because she liked them, she didn't like to think of her so scared.

"It not okay. I came here to take care of you. You poorly...you..."

Frieda stopped as Penny's palm cupped her cheek, her fingertips getting tangled in her hair.

"Thank you for taking care of me." Penny told her sincerely, looking into those piercing brown eyes which for the first time she saw were full of emotion.

"It no big deal."

"It is to me. So much about you...is to..."

Penny was interrupted by the gentle touch of Frieda's lips on hers. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she deepened the kiss, Penny responding in kind. When the dark haired woman pulled away Penny felt sadness overcome her. She ran her fingertips over the soft skin of Frieda's cheek.

"I sorry. I shouldn't have...I shall go..." Frieda said quickly, her voice shaking with emotion. She carefully lifted herself up off Penny, grabbed her things and headed for the door.

"Frieda wait..." Penny called behind her, but as quickly as she had bustled into the apartment earlier on she had left.


	6. Chapter 6

For a moment Penny sat stunned on the floor, her heart still thumping hard in her chest as she thought of Frieda's lips on hers. It was when she looked around her now solitary lounge, with the two bowls sat on the coffee table and the empty glass which had held the water that Frieda had so thoughtfully had waiting for her with some Ibuprofen ready for when she woke up from her sleep that she came to feel as though there was truly something missing from her flat. She had enjoyed Frieda's company that afternoon and evening. She had enjoyed being taken care of and was so touched that someone was willing to do what Frieda had done out of sheer kindness and concern with no warning whatsoever. She had enjoyed seeing the other woman smile and laugh which up until now had been something so uncharacteristic of her. Now she had gone and once again Penny was all alone, not knowing what had happened in those last few moments to cause the sharp exit that was now causing hot tears to roll down her cheeks.

Sighing, a sniffing Penny walked over to the DVD player and turned off the movie. She then padded around the flat taking the bowls, cutlery and glasses into the kitchen and washing them up, pausing occasionally to sneeze or to blow her red raw nose. Deciding to have an early night she then made her way to the door. Her hand was just resting on the bolt when she heard movement from outside.

Opening the door quietly, Penny peeped around it to see Frieda sat just next to it, her knees pulled to her chest and her head resting on her crossed arms. She had been crying and Penny felt her heart jump in her chest. Pulling the door two Penny sat down beside the dark haired woman, pulling her knees into the same position and wrapping her arms around them. She turned her attention to Frieda, bumping her shoulder against the other young woman's and smiling softly.

"Penny for them..." She said quietly. Frieda just looked at her in confusion and Penny sighed.

"I should not have run." Frieda told the redhead, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket and Penny realised then that she must understand a lot more than she had been letting on.

"Then why did you?" Penny asked and she found herself almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Fear." Frieda replied simply. "It scare me. I should not have kissed you."

"Why should you not have kissed me? Frieda I wanted you to." Penny reassured her trying futilely to stifle a yawn.

"You are tired. I should go..." Frieda remarked, getting up.

Penny grabbed hold of her arm and gently pulled her back down. She shook her head.

"Why are you scared?" Penny asked Frieda, shyly linking her fingers with the dark haired woman's; Frieda holding on to Penny tightly.

"I like you. I been with women before. You...you have not?"

Penny shook her head.

"So you might change mind. I be an experiment to you and get hurt."

"I wanted you to kiss me. Doesn't that tell you anything?"

Frieda looked at Penny and smiled.

"You want to spread your germ to innocent people?"

Penny smiled in response. She shook her head.

"Just because you want me to kiss you...does not mean you want me...or us. You confused."

"I'm anything but confused. I may have a fever but I am thinking clearly." Penny reassured her; giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"And what about work? Are you not worried what people might say?"

"I didn't think Frieda Petrenko cared about what other people say or think."

"It may hurt you."

Penny shrugged.

"I had a relationship with a patient. I really don't think any gossip about us could be any worse. Besides they don't have to know anything. Not yet and when they do they'll get over it pretty quickly. There's always another infidelity or another conquest."

"True." Frieda responded with a nod.

"Tonight meant something to me. More than you could possibly know. I didn't think you liked me yet there you were when no one else cared enough, taking care of me."

Frieda cupped Penny's warm cheek with her palm.

"Would I have told them to let you go home if I did not like?"

"You told them to...I thought it was because of the patients." Penny asked feeling truly shocked.

"That may have been a little white lie. You very pale. I was worried." Frieda admitted, the blush once again appearing on her cheeks.

"So you came to cook me soup."

Frieda nodded and looked at the floor somewhat shyly. She really was beautiful and to Penny the vulnerability that she was showing made her even more enchanting.

"You would do same for me yes?" She teased and Penny grinned.

"Without question." She replied honestly, knowing that after seeing the care and compassion in someone who she once thought so cold that she would do anything to repay the kindness that she had been on the receiving end of that night.


	7. Chapter 7

Penny began to shiver; the draught in the hallway chilling her to the bone even though her head was warm with fever.

"You need tea and warm bed. You feel better in the morning." Frieda soothed then stifling a yawn herself.

"Do you seriously think I'm going to sleep after that film?" Penny asked. She sat thoughtfully for a minute and looked at the floor. "Although you did such a good job nursing me that I might be able to sleep...if you stay..."

Frieda looked at Penny with wide eyes. Piercing brown eyes filled with so much emotion that Penny found it almost overwhelming.

"Because you know I am still sick...you're a nurse... and I'd feel a lot less afraid of Casper if you were here to protect me." She added trying her best to pull her most angelic face.

"I cannot." Frieda replied seriously looking at Penny with an intense expression on her face. "I do not have my toothbrush." She added finishing once again with a dazzling smile.

"It's lucky I have a spare then." Penny replied getting up from her position on the floor and pulling Frieda up gently. She led her into the flat and closed the door then tenderly took Frieda into her arms and kissed her.

"If I get this cold, I holding you personally responsible." Frieda then told Penny, brushing the soft skin of her cheek with her thumb as she pulled away. She then let Penny lead her into her bedroom where they stood for a moment, brown eyes studying brown.

"You shower and change. I make you tea. Then we sleep yes?" Frieda said softly, running her fingers through Penny's hair. "You need to rest."

"That sounds lovely." Penny replied pulling away briefly to search through her drawers for an oversized t-shirt for Frieda to wear to bed and her spare toothbrush. She passed them to Frieda carefully and again was overcome by a sneeze.

Frieda immediately brushed Penny's hair away from her clammy forehead and kissed it gently.

"You beautiful even when you have cold and streaming nose." She whispered sincerely; her lips just brushing Penny's ear. "Now go shower and get yourself into bed."

"You're not going to leave?" Penny checked, suddenly feeling very vulnerable.

"Never. We have many years I feel. Many, many years." Frieda replied, kissing Penny on the tip of her nose.

"I hope so." Penny told her resting her forehead against Frieda's and closing her eyes, thinking just how much things had changed in one evening, but also how she wouldn't change them for the world.

"I know it. Now go...before you fall asleep on your feet. I cannot carry you. You realise this." Frieda teased; shooing Penny into the bathroom.

Penny did as she was told and forty five minutes later found herself clean, full of tea and another two ibuprofen and in the embrace of the t-shirt clad and beautiful Frieda who was carefully holding a tepid washcloth on Penny's forehead until she fell asleep.

Penny Valentine hated colds. She hated the headaches, she hated the sneezing, she hated having to battle through days where all she wanted to do was sleep; but for this cold she would always be grateful because it had brought into her life an angel; an angel who would nurse her, take care of her and protect her for the rest of their days and for whom she would always do the same without any question at all.


End file.
